DICTIONARY

OF
METALS
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Iron making in the sixteenth century. Source: Georgius Agricola, De Re Metallica,
translated by Herbert Clark Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover, Dover Publications,
Inc., New York, 1950, p 422
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DICTIONARY
OF
METALS
Editor
Harold M. Cobb
ASM International

Materials Park, Ohio 44073-0002

www.asminternational.org
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Copyright 2012
by
ASM International

All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written
permission of the copyright owner.
First printing, December 2012
Great care is taken in the compilation and production of this book, but it should be made clear that
NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WAR-
RANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE
GIVEN IN CONNECTION WITH THIS PUBLICATION. Although this information is believed
to be accurate by ASM, ASM cannot guarantee that favorable results will be obtained from the use
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Comments, criticisms, and suggestions are invited, and should be forwarded to ASM International.
Prepared under the direction of the ASM International Technical Book Committee (20112012),
Bradley J. Diak, Chair.
ASM International staff who worked on this project include Scott Henry, Senior Manager, Con-
tent Development and Publishing; Karen Marken, Senior Managing Editor; Amy Nolan, Content
Developer; Victoria Burt, Content Developer; Sue Sellers, Editorial Assistant; Bonnie Sanders,
Manager of Production; Madrid Tramble, Senior Production Coordinator; and Kelly Sukol, Pro-
duction Coordinator.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012940641
ISBN-13: 978-1-61503-978-4
ISBN-10: 1-61503-978-3
SAN: 204-7586
ASM International

Materials Park, OH 44073-0002
www.asminternational.org
Printed in the United States of America
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Dictionary of Metals Copyright 2012 ASM International

H.M. Cobb, editor All rights reserved
www.asminternational.org
v
Contents
Preface vii
About the Author ix
Introduction xi
Content xi
The Earliest Discoveries xi
The Ages of Man xii
The Naming and Numbering of Metals xiii
What Is a Metal? xiii
The Nature of Metals xv
The Development of Alloys xv
The Dictionary 1
Appendix 1 Metals History Timeline 278
Appendix 2 Bibliography 327
Appendix 3 Properties and Conversion Tables 329
Table 1 Periodic table of the Elements 329
Table 2 Physical properties of the elements 330
Table 3 Density of metals and alloys 336
Table 4 Linear thermal expansion of metals and alloys 339
Table 5 Thermal conductivity of metals and alloys 341
Table 6 Electrical conductivity and resistivity of metals and alloys 343
Table 7 Vapor pressures of the metallic elements 345
Table 8 Standard reduction potentials of metals 346
Table 9 The 45 most abundant elements in the earth's crust 346
Table 10 The electrochemical series 347
Table 11 Metal melting range and color scale 348
Table 12 Predominant ame colors of metallic elements 349
Table 13 Average percentage of metals in igneous rocks 349
Table 14 Temperature conversion 350
Table 15 Metric stress or pressure conversions 354
Table 16 Metric energy conversions 356
Table 17 Metric length and weight conversion factors 356
Table 18 Conversion of inches to millimeters 357
Table 19 Coversion of millimeters to inches 357
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vii
Dictionary of Metals Copyright 2012 ASM International

H.M. Cobb, editor All rights reserved
www.asminternational.org
Preface
The story of metals is undeniably entwined with the history of humanity, as
evidenced by the division of the ages by the well-known Stone Age, Bronze
Age, Iron Age, and what some have called the Steel Age and the Stainless Steel
Age. Metals, more than any other material, have had the greatest inuence on
the development of civilization from prehistoric times.
Metals were used for horseshoes, tools, knives, cook pots, cups and plates,
nails, chains, cannon balls, and coins. That was when metals were made in
small enough crucibles so that one or two men could lift them for casting. In the
middle of the 19th century, Henry Bessemer showed how to make steel by the
ton so that a long piece of metal could be made into a pipe, sheet, wire, or beam,
leading eventually to the manufacture of machinery, ships, reneries, power
plants, skyscrapers, and airplanes.
Every metal has its own exciting story that tells of its unique properties, the
obstacles encountered in producing it, and its advantages and special uses. Met-
als are all around us and, for the most part, are taken for granted. But what
would we do without that tiny amount of silicon in every computer chip pro-
duced, or the stainless steel in the utensils on our kitchen tables?
The Dictionary of Metals includes descriptions of metals and terms relating
to metals. It also includes a considerable amount of the history, starting with
the seven metals of antiquity. Each of the 73 metallic elements has a discussion
that includes the discoverer and date, the naming of the metal and its meaning,
major applications, and the signicance of discovery. Charts show their physi-
cal properties. An appendix includes a timeline of important events in the his-
tory of metals and metallurgy.
In addition to the basic metals, hundreds of alloys are described, as well as
common names such as mild steel, cartridge brass, wrought iron, sterling silver,
Muntz metal, Alclad, rare earth metal, metalloids, and killed steel.
Most of the elements in the periodic table of chemical elements are classied
as metals. In fact, 73 of the 92 naturally-occurring elements are metals. Metals
have been divided into two classes, with ferrous implying all metals and alloys
that are principally iron, while the nonferrous consists of all others. This seem-
ingly one-sided division is not so strange when it is realized that about half of
all of the alloys are ferrous, of which most are some type of steel. In all, it is
estimated that there are at least 25,000 alloys.
Because each metallic element consists of atoms containing different num-
bers of subatomic particles, it follows that each metal must be different from
all the others, having properties that make each metal unique. The properties of
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viii
Preface
metals are classied as physical and mechanical. The physical properties are
the basic characteristics, while the mechanical properties are those that can be
determined by deforming or breaking a specimen.
The Dictionary of Metals was compiled in a comprehensive manner, and as
such it brings together terms from dozens of authoritative publications, intro-
ducing new terms and preserving the old.
I wish to acknowledge the following staff of ASM International for their
work on this book: Vicki Burt, Scott Henry, Steve Lampman, and Amy Nolan
in the Content Department, and Kelly Sukol and Madrid Tramble in the Produc-
tion Department. I especially thank my son, Bruce Warren Cobb, and Evelyn
Dorothy Roberts for assistance with typing; to my cousin, Anne Cobb Moore
for assistance with translation; to Susan Frederick for historical research at the
public library in Exton, Pennsylvania; and my wife Joan Inman Cobb for proof-
reading, construction and many suggestions.
This book includes both original work and carefully selected terms from the
ASM Materials Engineering Dictionary, the ASM Handbook series, and other
references as listed in the Bibliography. Terms are supplemented by illustra-
tions and tables, and Technical Notes provide concise overviews of the proper-
ties, compositions, and applications of selected metals, and direct readers to
more detailed information.
The book will be of primary interest to engineers, metallurgists, chemists,
professors of Materials Engineering, technicians, librarians, and historians. For
these and other interested audiences, in addition to meeting the obvious need of
having metallurgical denitions at ones ngertips, it was written with the intent
of being an engaging volume that actually can be read as a book.
Harold M. Cobb
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ix
Dictionary of Metals Copyright 2012 ASM International

H.M. Cobb, editor All rights reserved
www.asminternational.org
About the Author
Harold M. Cobb graduated from Yale University in 1943 with a degree in met-
allurgical engineering. He has had a long and varied metallurgical career that
began with 22 years at companies that produced aircraft gas turbines, propeller
blades, helicopters, and fuel elements for nuclear submarines.
He then was on the staff of the American Society for Testing and Materials
(ASTM) for 18 years as Group Manager of the Metals Division, where he was
an ex-ofcio member of 12 metals committees. He was a member of ISO Com-
mittee TC 17 on Steel and Secretary of Subcommittee 12 on Steel Sheet for
15 years.
In 1970, Cobb was a principal developer of the Unied Numbering System
(UNS) for metals and alloys. He developed the individual numbering systems
for three categories: Miscellaneous Steels, the K series; Cast Steels, the J series;
and Steels Specied by Mechanical Properties, the D series. He also became the
number assigner for the D and K series of steels and is still responsible for that
activity.
For many years he has been an editorial consultant for the ASTM/SAE pub-
lication Metals and Alloys in the Unied Numbering System (UNS). Cobb cre-
ated and now maintains the Index of Common Names and Trade Names of that
book, an index that has grown to approximately 20,000 entries.
He has edited 24 books on metals, and in 2010 authored History of Stain-
less Steel. He has authored several dozen articles, including Development of
the Unied Numbering System for Metals, The Naming and Numbering of
Stainless Steels, and Whats in a Name? He has worked at various times as
an editorial consultant for ASM International, ASTM, the Association for Iron
& Steel Technology, the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the Specialty
Steel Industry of North America.
Cobb also is a guest editor for Stainless Steel World, a Dutch magazine, creat-
ing a monthly feature story under the byline Cobbs Corner.
He holds a patent on a process for manufacturing fuel elements for nuclear
submarines. He is a Life Member of ASM International, and a member of
ASTM and Committee A-1 on Steel, Stainless Steel, and Related Alloys. Cobb
and his wife reside in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
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